The Nugget Vol. XLV No. 21
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
STEAM Night brought art, fun to SMS By T. Lee Brown Correspondent
Students of Sisters Middle School (SMS) and their families gathered Thursday evening for STEAM Night at the school. Student-made art was on display throughout the campus. Kids enjoyed activities involving STEAM subjects, while parents sipped hot cups of Sisters Coffee and sometimes got hands-on, too. STEAM is a buzzword in education, like STEM before it. Fifth-grade student Annabelle Molesworth took a guess at what the acronym stands for. “Science, Technology, something, Art, and Math,” she said. “I don’t know what the E stands for.” The missing E word is for Engineering. A related activity involved using a tablet computer to move a robotic, lightup ball around the library; sometimes it escaped into the commons area. Fiddles and guitars rang out as kids played. At stopmotion animation stations, people moved little objects around and photographed them to make mini videos. Students had helped create giant “color-in” papers for folks to gather around and
Correspondent
The Urban Forestry Board (UFB) had to make some tough decisions at their May 9 meeting regarding removal of a number of large trees located on City property. A portion of East Cascade Avenue, east of the elementary school, will soon have a different look due to the removal of ponderosa pine trees on the north side of the street. Those trees have been over-pruned due to the Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) power lines that run right through them, creating a fire hazard if limbs fall on the lines. They continually need to be pruned to stay below the lines. Their removal is part of the City’s and CEC’s wildfire mitigation efforts. The trees are on City r i g h t - o f - w a y. C e n t r a l Electric will remove the
At an extravagant selfie station, 6thgrade student Parker Johnson takes center stage, with 5th-grader Brennan Johnson in the background. PHOTO BY KELLY JOHNSON
In the jailhouse now Correspondent
It seems a safe assumption that nobody wants to be in jail, even for an hour. That’s also true for the Deschutes County jail notwithstanding its modern, campus-like appearance. Jail is not prison, but for the AIC (Adults In Custody) the loss of freedom is at once sobering and lonely, and given to despair. But it’s not hopeless. At least that’s what Captain Michael Shults wants those housed in the jail he runs to believe. Shults, a 34-year law enforcement and corrections veteran, was recruited to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in December of 2017 after serving 30 years in the Multnomah County
Inside...
Forestry board urges tree removal By Sue Stafford
See STEAM on page 24
By Bill Bartlett
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
(Portland) Sheriff’s Office. Shults and his management team sat for a lengthy interview with The Nugget that included a detailed tour of the medium security facility. No area was off limits, enabling us to see up close and personally what it’s like to be lodged in the jail built in 1994. In 2014 the jail was expanded by 144 beds with a total today of 452 adult (18 and older) men and women. There are two entrances to the jail, and they could not be more disparate. Visitors enter from the parking lot with no restrictions. Likewise, they walk right up to the front door and let themselves in. No getting buzzed in by a faceless camera, no metal detector or scowling guard. See JAIL on page 10
See TREES on page 20
Outlaws hit high note in competition By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
Tyler Cranor, the Sisters School District’s band director, says that the current lineup of the Sisters High School Jazz Band is the “best–sounding band we’ve ever had.” That’s not just a proud teacher’s opinion — it’s backed by the judges at last weekend’s Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA) State Jazz Competition held at Mt. Hood Community College, where the Outlaws took first-place honors in the 4A division. “We got higher marks this year for the whole ensemble than we ever had,” said Cranor, who noted that the See JAZZ BAND on page 22
PHOTO PROVIDED
The Sisters High School Jazz Band took first place in 4A in state competition last weekend.
Letters/Weather................ 2 Announcements................12 Sisters Country Birds........13 Fun & Games.................... 24 Classifieds..................28-30 Meetings........................... 3 Entertainment..................13 Love in Sisters..................15 Crossword . ......................27 Real Estate................. 30-32
